For those of us who spend our downtime in virtual worlds, there are a couple of forthcoming documentaries from major media players in search of interviewees. One, for the BBC's Horizon series, is an hour-long programme, "about the meteoric rise of MMORPGs and other virtual worlds: featuring interviews with game designers, psychologists, economists and of course, gamers".
Specifically, they want to speak with virtual world residents if:
You're passionate about your Avatar - whether it's just like you, or contrasts dramatically with your life offline
You make real money through your dealings in a game
You are worried about addiction - either for yourself, a friend, or a relative
You are organising a protest or event in a game
You regularly meet with other gamers in the outside world
Auntie Beeb has been one of the media leaders in supporting virtual worlds, going as far as to buy some digital land in Second Life to use as a venue for gigs and as a backdrop for broadcast programming. If you'd like to contribute to a documentary for the BBC's flagship science series, email them at virtualworldsATbbc.co.uk
The other production, created by New York's Pure West Docs and pointed out to the gamesblog by Nick Yee, is searching for local folks who fit the following criteria:
-a couple that met in an MMO and are currently together in RL. - a virtual world refugee: someone who was in an MMO that was shut down who can talk about how they and the community reacted. - someone in a long-standing guild that has branches in different games, or has migrated through several games. - a physically-handicapped person who plays MMOs and finds it to have a positive influence on their life. - someone who feels that the virtual world offers a better life for them (financially or otherwise). - an activist: someone who has organized or led a protest in a virtual world. - someone who lives in the New York City area and has an interesting MMO story or experience
The producers intend to open up this call to the global player base when they get full funding later this year.
At the rate that mainstream media is getting into these places, I imagine Richard and Judy will be giving it a go next.
